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Starting my showroom again

 

Hello, audiophiles. I would like to get your honest feedback. Back in 2022, I had to close my business in Nashville owing to a series of unexpected occurrences (several deaths in the family, a rapid move to assist my mother-in-law, and a brain operation); all of this necessitated that I close the store in a matter of weeks. It was now a two-hour trek to Nashville. I worked as a glorified gate operator at a chemical company because that is all was available in our small town. I received an opportunity to become national sales director for an audio company, which would provide some income—not much, but enough to go back into the hifi business at the bottom level.

 

 

 

So now you know the incredibly brief version of the story. Here's the question: there is a little town about 30 minutes away that is booming and gaining more expensive retailers like Ulta and StarBucks. So here's the question.

 

Do you believe a small town like that might support an up-and-coming hifi business that sells receivers, speakers like PS Audio, KEF, and other manufacturers at a lower price point until the store can handle more expensive items? The closest "electronics store," Electronics Express, is nearly an hour and a half away. I have had an audio shop since 2003, beginning in Florida. Thoughts?

 

128x128nashvillehifi
tyray
602 posts
 

@nashvillehifi,

You can do any damn thing you want. You already have the knowledge base and experience. And why limit yourself to just the community around you? Let the internet and your soon to be website be your ’digital’ store also. I would venture to guess that most of us that still work do it at home remotely anyway. You know, think out of the box. You could be the middle man and use the tools you already have. The roof over your head, your pc/laptop and your internet service of choice. At least to start.

Most folks know what they want anyway before they listen and in this way you won’t limit yourself of items to sell. Plus in the beginning you could save some coin and work on getting customers and manufacture’s who are internet friendly.

I do like @dokosan coffee shop, record shop or any other small establishment willing to take on some of the brick and mortar rental fees.

But don’t boohoo the idea of being internet friendly cause you can create more sales with less overhead, and work on your brick and mortar with home installations later, or even at the same time. I think you already know what to do!smiley

audiokinesis
2,740 posts
 

@nashvillehifi, I think your plan of becoming a national distributor is a good one. If feasible, imo it would be a good idea to route all sales through your dealers. Dealers don’t like to compete with their distributors, but they really appreciate a distributor "giving" them a sale.

My instinct is that a modest brick-and-mortar audio store is unlikely to thrive in a small town even if it’s an affluent town IF it is entirely dependent on local sales. I definitely sympathize with your dream of doing what you love.

Is there a way you could "fish from a bigger pond"? Is there a brand which is not available in the US at this time that you would really like to represent? I’m trying to think of a way you can have something unique to offer, so you can sell to upscale customers beyond your locality, but without having to compete with the internet. If you have something unique and desirable, you can theoretically generate sales well beyond your locality. Maybe something like Zingali (from Italy)?

Very best of luck with your endeavor!

rlj
61 posts
 

Trump's proposed tariffs, is going to take a bite out of imported HiFi products.  Domestic HiFi products like Schiit Audio, Rogue audio and DeVore Fidelity will benefit.    Most of those made-in-the-USA companies are direct to consumer model.     Used HiFi products might do well in your brick and mortar show room.   But that seems to be having a supply issue as people seem to be holding on to their gear longer.   

take a look at SkyLabs Audio discuss changes in the used HiFi market.

https://youtu.be/PUASbOb79gc?si=RFLsumWoK8rM47vj

I bought a 20-something year old guy a BlueSound PowerNode streamer/amplifier and two used bookshelf speakers for his college graduation present.  There is no way he can have a big HiFi in his downtown-apartment.

Have you thought about headphones only???

https://audio46.com

You are in Nashville, how about specializing in pro-audio equipment?  Something like Sweetwater but more specialized.

https://www.sweetwater.com  

good luck.

grislybutter
3,105 posts
 

on the same wave as @audiokinesis I looked at 120+ speaker companies web sites (for 100s of hours but closer to 1000s) and more than half of them have no presence in the US. But it is worse than that because they do have a global distribution page, a link to a US company's web site (or in many cases broken link with domain for sale) who do not carry their products. Essentially most of them have an outdated network, with no representation in the US.

blackbag20
468 posts
 

If you could post your business plan we could be more helpful!

 

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